How much of Willy's tragedy is the result of American society and how much of it is caused by himself?
Much of Willy's suffering is due to the nature of American society. American society is highly commercialised and highly competitive. One of the most dominant beliefs of American society goes by the name of "the great American dream". This American dream is based on the doctrine of self-help which assumes that a person possessing sufficient initiative can rise from a lower to a higher position. The doctrine of self-help is often illustrated in America with reference to such figures as Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) who rose from a printer's boy to an ambassador, and John Garfield (1831-1881) who rose from a log cabin to White House, both these persons setting an example worthy of emulation by generations of young Americans Willy Loman is a fervent believer in the romantic American dream. He thinks that a man can rise to a high position and can attain wealth by means of personal attractiveness, personal charm, personal initiative, and personal contacts. He applies this view to himself as well as to his son Biff. He speaks of himself in almost glowing terms when he says that he is "vital" to the Wagner Company as its salesman in the New England territory. He claims that it was he who introduced the Wagner Company to buyers in this particular territory, and that the Company cannot do without him. He uses such expressions as "knocked them dead" and "slaughtered them" to convey his conquest of this territory from the point of view of his promotion of the goods manufactured by his Company. He says that he is well-known all over the territory and that the cops will look after his car no matter in which street of a town in New England he chooses to park it. He relates stories of his popularity as, for instance, when he says that he met the Mayor of the City of Providence and had a friendly chat with him. He gives inflated figures of the sales made by him and the commission that he will earn on those sales.
Willy talks in similar terms about his son Biff. Biff has achieved nothing up to the age of thirty-four and, though Willy is slightly disturbed over Biff's failure to have "found" himself, he clings to his belief that Biff has a great future before him. He recalls Biff's boyhood when Biff distinguished himself on the football field where he was greeted by his school-mates like a hero. Biff, he believes, has "spirit" and "personality". Biff, he says, is built like an Adonis. He compares Biff to Hercules, and then to a god. He condones the petty thievery to which Biff has become accustomed because, he thinks, Biff is an exceptional type of young man. He is convinced that Biff will be able to get any amount of money from Bill Oliver to start a business. He is of th opinion that his sons, because of their personality and attractiveness, will do better in life than Bernard the book-worm, and that he himself will build up a more flourishing business than Charley has built up. He harps upon his "contacts".
In holding these opinions, which prove to be quite false, Willy is deceived by the American dream. He persists in believing in this American myth to the point of absurdity. But he cannot do otherwise. The social system of which he is a product has an iron hold upon him. Like most other Americans, he ardently believes in this law of success. The law of success teaches Americans that theirs is a great country and that there is no room in it for a man who proves a failure. In other words, a man who cannot make use of the formula by which success can be achieved has no right to live in America. And the formula of success is the one that has been described above, namely, personal magnetism, the art of cultivating people, the amiable smile, and personal attractiveness. This law of success has such a right grip on Willy that he cannot escape from it even though he has moments of realisation of the actual state of affairs. Thus we are made to feel that a man is a victim of his environment and of the social forces in the midst of which he lives. The social forces in this play have a role comparable to that of Fate or Destiny in ancient Greek Tragedy.
That Willy is a victim of the American society to which he belongs is further illustrated by the manner in which he is treated by his present employer Howard. Willy had been treated fairly well by Howard's late father, but Howard's attitude towards Willy is most callous. Willy's interview with Howard is one of the most important situations in the play showing the cruelty of the prevailing social system./Willy is now sixty-three years old. He is aware of the fact that he does not have his old stamina because he cannot even concentrate on his driving. He has worked for the Wagner Company for thirty-four years. Recently he has been deprived of his regular salary and relegated to working on a commission basis. He pleads that he is unable to continue his travelling job and appeals to Howard to give him an assignment that will keep him in New York. Howard is unsympathetic and refuses such a transfer. Willy lowers his demand from sixty to fifty and then to forty dollars a week for the job that he is asking. Howard is more interested in playing a tape-recorder which he has just bought than in Willy's problem. He grants none of Willy's requests, and casually dismisses him from the Company. We can imagine Willy's plight now. Willy has failed in arousing any sympathy in Howard in spite of the fact that it was he who had suggested Howard's Christian name. Even his plea that an employee should not be treated like a fruit falls on deaf ears. "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away-a man is not a piece of fruit", says he to Howard. In other words, we here see the extremely inhuman nature of the American competitive society which gets rid of an old employee as soon as he ceases to be a source of profit to his employer. This may or may not be a criticism of capitalism, but it is certainly a condemnation of the profit motive which does not recognise human wants and needs. The way the American dream has let down Willy and the manner in which his Company has treated him are largely responsible for Willy's decision to commit suicide. It is a sad commentary on the American social system that a man should have to kill himself in order to provide his family with the insurance money badly needed by the sons to start some kind of business. The tragedy is aggravated by the fact that Willy himself does not fully realise the falsity of the dream world he lives in.
It would, however, be wrong to say that Willy is wholly a victim of the social system. His own responsibility for his tragedy is by no means negligible. To a large extent, he knows his own limitations and shortcomings and yet he chooses to shut his eyes to them. He confesses to Linda in so many words that people do not "take to him", that they "pass him by", and that they "laugh" at his fatness; he also admits that he had miscalculated his sales. All this, of course, he does in a moment of mental illumination or self-discovery. Otherwise he continues to deceive himself with unrealistic hopes both with regard to himself and Biff. It seems like a wilful blindness to facts. He sees before him a striking example to prove that the American dream is not infallible. There is Charley who has built up a flourishing business without conforming to the terms of the American dream, and there is Bernard who has become a very successful lawyer without having played football. Charley says that his son has risen to a high position even though he did not formulate any plans for him: "My salvation is that I never took any interest in anything." As for Willy's formula of success, Charley says: "Who liked J.P. Morgan? Was he impressive ? In a Turkish bath he'd look like a butcher. But with his pockets on, he was very well liked." And yet Willy is not disillusioned. Rightly did Charley ask him: "When the hell are you going to grow up?"
Willy's unquestioning faith in the American dream seems to have made it unnecessary for him to develop any high moral ideas. He has been turning a blind eye to Biff's thefts, petty as they were. He has inculcated in his sons no higher morality that was required strictly by the terms of the American dream, so much so that he treated Biff's theft of a football from the school as an example of Biff's initiative. When Biff fails in the examination. Willy blames the teacher whom he describes as "that son-of-a-bitch". He is so obsessed by his illusions regarding Biff that he is not prepared to listen even to Biff's account of his interview with Bill Oliver. His illusion does not allow him to listen to an account of failure. This American dream prevents him from accepting Ben's offer of a golden opportunity in Alaska where he could have become rich. He is not only by nature unadventurous, but as soon as Linda reminds him of Dave Singleman, Willy is convinced that he will do much better in his own Company than in Alaska. He deceives himself to such an extent that he thinks that his funeral will be a "massive" affair and will be attended by very important people in the trade. Actually only Charley and Bernard attend the funeral besides the members of his family.
The sense of guilt that he carries with him on account of his past infidelity to his wife has also something to do with the mental instability of Willy. Whenever he sees Linda darning stockings he is reminded of the Boston woman to whom he had once made love. He is also aware of the shock that Biff had received on seeing him with that woman in the hotel in Boston. In other words, he is dimly aware of the basic reason for Biff's having gone astray.
In short, Willy Loman is a confused and muddle-headed person when we meet him. A part of his tragedy, at least, is due to his own weaknesses. He has an unbalanced mind. He cannot boast of a strict morality. He is weak and vacillating. He is given to self-deception and self-delusion.
